Disruptyx Therapeutics
Developing the next-generation of precision peptide therapeutics against cancer.
Funded by MRC and the Wellcome Trust, and supported by the Translational Research Initiative funding and commercialisation opportunities, Dr Connor Blair and his team are developing novel peptide-based therapies to treat cancer.
Within the human interactome there exists over 500,000 unique protein-protein interactions (PPIs), functioning synergistically to maintain homeostatic control. Complex remodelling of this PPI network is central to the progression of cancer, where a vast pool of attractive and underexploited drug targets exist. Driven by the high unmet clinical need for novel and efficacious therapies in oncology, Dr. Blair and his team at the University of Glasgow leverage the evolutionary optimised PPI interface to rapidly discover and develop precision peptide-based therapeutics capable of exploiting aberrations in the PPI network. Their approach represents a unique way in which to fine-tune the disease microenvironment and overcome treatment resistance in cancer. The teams’ innovative pipeline therapeutic programmes are being developed against solid (e.g., pancreatic cancer, neuroblastoma) and haematological malignancies (e.g., acute myeloid leukaemia), with R&D efforts currently focused on pre-clinical development in clinically relevant in vivo models of disease.
"The Translational Research Initiative have been hugely supportive of my early research career. Their support has driven two pipeline therapeutic programmes, which has subsequently generated novel intellectual property that the University is now in the position to protect and license to our start-up company" - Dr Connor Blair.
In the next 12 – 18 months, the team are aiming to be in a position where they can officially spin out from the University, with their company Disruptyx Therapeutics Ltd. The group are hoping to secure further seed funding to support the company for the next 3 – 5 years, and help them develop their therapies from a pre-clinical stage to first in-human clinical trials.
"Overall, we are looking to contribute further to what already is a world-class reputation of innovation within both the University of Glasgow, but also within Scotland itself" - Dr Connor Blair.
Website:
Funding sources:
Wellcome Early Concept Development Funding
SE High Growth Spin-Out Program
Contacts:
Disruptyx Therapeutics
Dr Connor Blair showcases his work on the development of precision peptide therapeutics against pancreatic cancer.
Funding & Support
The work behind Disruptyx Therapeutics and its spinout have been supported by the High-Growth Spinout Programme (HGSP), as well as Wellcome ECD, and MRC IAA funding through the Translational Research Initiative.